


Not for a While

by Elektra Pendragon (elekdragon)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-08-28
Updated: 2003-08-28
Packaged: 2017-10-14 19:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/152478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elekdragon/pseuds/Elektra%20Pendragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is very sick, and gets a visitor he didn't expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not for a While

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to Padawan 'Blade for the quick beta and the extra SG notes. And thanks to Smitty for telling me there was Skaara in the episode "Full Circle" but didn't tell me what happened, coz that just inspired this whole fic.
> 
> SPOILERS for Meridian, Full Circle, and Fallen.

Jack always knew he was going to buy it one of these missions, but he never thought it would take this long, or be this painful. He always thought it would just be BOOM, and he was dead. Big explosion, lots of gunfire--the good ol' Blaze of Glory.

The initial hit from the weapon had hardly hurt at all--just grazed his side, leaving a small burn below his ribs--but over the past week it had spread, slowing eating away at his flesh. It was probably the most unpleasant weapon a Goa'uld had ever devised. Even Teal'c was impressed by its viciousness. So far, they had not been able to find a way to stop it. He was dying, a little bit at a time, rotting away from the outside-in.

Jack pressed the morphine button again and again, but the dosage was already up to its highest level. He wouldn't mind dying so much, just if it weren't so painful. The least they could have done was put him in a coma...

Unpleasant thoughts of Daniel's death/ascension/whatever came to Jack's mind more and more often these days. It had been an extremely painful and stupid way to die. The man had saved a bunch of ungrateful, whimpering idiots who repaid the selfless deed by turning him from a hero to a traitor. Great way to die, huh? Only Jack could one-up Daniel in the Unpleasant Ways To Die For Stupid Reasons department. Look at that--and he wasn't even trying.

Jack tried very hard to not make himself laugh. It hurt too much, and the sensation of fluid/skin/whatever sliding off his side as he moved was way too unpleasant to make any joke worth it. Not even the one about the Goa'uld with the car door.

"I had not heard that one, O'Neill."

"Oh, it's great. You see, there's this Goa'uld wandering the desert, and he's got this--" Jack slowly turned his head to look around. It didn't hurt too much, as long as he didn't move too fast. The chair beside his bed was empty, but when he lifted his head a little, he could see someone with dark hair sitting at the end of his bed. He didn't need a clear look; he recognized the voice. "Skaara?"

"It is good to see you," the young man said. Jack let his head fall back on the pillow, but Skaara was suddenly there again, right by his side, leaning close so Jack could see his face.

"Yeah, me too. You look great." He did. Ascension was a good look for Skaara. After his time as a Goa'uld host, there had been a darkness hovering over Skaara's usually sunny disposition, but that was gone. He looked rested, at peace. Always youthful, Skaara now seemed to glow from the inside, and he seemed happy--very, very happy.

"You do not look as good." Skaara's smile fell, and his dark eyes were filled with sadness.

"Yeah, well..." Jack tried to shrug his shoulders, but just starting the movement was enough to make it feel like he was tearing himself in half. His body shivered uncontrollably as he tried to deal with the awful pain.

Skaara reached out and placed a hand on Jack's forehead. It was warm, comforting, when the rest of him felt so cold. He wanted to lean into the touch, but he couldn't move too much. He just closed his eyes and concentrated on the warmth, willing everything else to go away.

When it had passed, Jack opened his eyes to see Skaara still there, still watching him with those sad eyes. "Don't suppose you can..."

Skaara shook his head.

"Figures." Jack swallowed, feeling his voice giving out, his strength almost used up. He didn't want to fall asleep just yet; it had been too long since he'd been able to sit with Skaara. "Missed you."

"I missed you as well, O'Neill." Skaara looked around, his eyes fixing on some invisible point above Jack's bed. When he looked back, his smile had returned. "You remember, I had said you would not see me again..."

"'Not for a while,'" Jack quoted back, Skaara's last words clear in his mind. He could even remember the way the young man had looked when he was dying--he could remember every moment he had spent with Skaara the past seven years. All of them much too short.

Skaara was nodding, watching Jack's face. He almost asked if he had something on his nose, but then it finally dawned on him.

Jack really was dying.

There was knowing he was going to die, but then there was KNOWING. So many years of last-minute miracle cures and Asgard ex Machina had blunted the impact of a fatal wound or disease. There always seemed to be hope. Finally, though, Jack must have stumbled past hope and into the realm of prayers.

"This means I..." Jack had sudden visions of himself as an Ascended One. Brief images filled his head--sneaking up on Daniel in the shower, haunting a Kel-no-reeming Teal'c, startling Sam as she worked on some secret project. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be a glow worm for a while.

Skaara just kind of smiled at him, his hand gently patting back his hair. It was soothing in a way that Jack hadn't felt since he was a child. It was strange having the roles reversed like this. Jack had always thought of Skaara as a boy, even though he was hardly a boy when he met him. Too many thoughts of Charlie and protecting him had gotten in the way of actually realizing Skaara was a man, ready to lead his people in revolt. Strong, capable, loyal... He had even led them into ascension. Perhaps he was here to lead Jack now.

"What do I do?" he asked, his voice hardly a rasp from his throat.

"Close your eyes," Skaara said, smiling. When Jack didn't do it right away, Skaara wiped his fingers down over Jack's face. "Close!" Jack could feel the warm spots of Skaara's fingertips resting lightly against his eyelids. He could feel his warm breath on his cheek--do you still breathe after you're dead?--and then softly, he felt lips against his mouth. It was a very soft touch, just barely brushing his skin, but just that was enough to take away some of the pain.

Skaara's fingers lifted off his eyelids, but Jack didn't open his eyes. He could feel light breathing against his lips, but that was all. "Will it hurt?" he asked in a whisper, feeling a little afraid.

"Shhhh." It was like a desert breeze across his mouth, warm and soft, simply a light rustling sound in the wind.

"Will I see you?"

"Not for a while." Skaara's voice was soft, too, almost like a whispering in his head. "But I will be there, always. Do not fear."

And then the pressure on his mouth returned, the feeling of Skaara's lips descending, pressing, sliding, pulling at his mouth. Jack wanted to return the kiss, but suddenly he couldn't move. All the pain in his body drained away, and he felt warm and safe and comfortable at long last. It was almost like falling asleep. Nothing to be afraid of...

It was startling, the noise of several pairs of boots slamming against the hard deck floor. It sounded like an invasion force was storming through the SGC. 'Great, just when I was about to get a little peace, they just HAVE to attack,' Jack thought dreamily before he fully realized he was awake. The curtain flew back from around his bed, and Jack's eyes came open in a burst of light. He squinted, making out the faces of Daniel and Janet leaning over him. Other people moved like blurs behind them in a flurry of activity. "We got it!" Daniel shouted, the words almost painfully loud. "We got the cure!"

Janet was directing the other people, a wicked looking syringe in her hand. "This is going to hurt, but before you know it, you'll be good as new, Colonel."

Jack looked around, but Skaara was already gone.

 

THE END


End file.
